Payback? U.S. intel set back when Libya base abandoned

October 12, 2012

Just what Obama/Biden needed, spooks making noise about their dissatisfaction and how Intel Ops in Libya have been set back.

There’s now something of a hot potato being passed around in Washington, from CIA to State to the White House. And someone is going to catch it in the end. Via Reuters.

Intelligence officials are not happy at being drawn into the political battle. Paul Pillar, one of the CIA’s former most senior analysts, said the agency is sure to be dismayed at how its sensitive work has been dragged into the debate.

Oversight committee spokesman Frederick Hill said committee Democrats made matters worse by asking questions about the satellite photos. “Even after Republicans objected, Democrats continued to ask questions that led State officials to put even more sensitive information about who worked there into the public realm,” Hill said.

The dispute over who was responsible for identifying the base is the latest case in which intelligence agencies – particularly the CIA – have been dragged into a political fray over the Benghazi attack. The Obama administration’s handling of the Benghazi attacks has become fodder for criticism from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and running mate Paul Ryan ahead of the November 6 election.